1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image communication apparatus and method capable of performing wireless communications in a client-server system or in a master-slave system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a digital camera has become widespread, and it has been suggested that a wireless interface and an antenna should be mounted in the digital camera to perform wireless communications with another digital camera and external communications equipment. Especially, there are many requests to transmit an image taken by a digital camera to another digital camera or external communications equipment. For example, in a trip of a group of users each having his or her own digital camera, there arise requests to store an image taken by one user in a digital camera of another user who appears in the image.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-284696 discloses a PUSH type camera and its method in which a master side (client side) camera for use in controlling communications displays or selects an image to be transmitted, and then transmits the image to the receiving camera of a slave side (server side). This method is comprehensible and practical with a user interface operated when one transmitter corresponds to one receiver. However, if a plurality of images are to be transmitted to receiver cameras, and different images are to be transmitted to the respective receiver cameras, then the following problems occur. That is, a transmitter camera user selects images to be transmitted, inquire whether or not each receiver camera user requests the images, sets each camera of the user who requests the images as a destination, and then performs an image transmitting operation. In the above-mentioned trip of a group of users, the above-mentioned operation performed between the transmitter and each receiver is too complicated. When different images are transmitted to a plurality of users, the destinations are set for each image, and the management of the destination addresses is also complicated.